1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to steerage wheels for vessels, primarily but not exclusively large recreational craft, such as yachts and power driven boats, for leisure or racing use.
2. Related Art
Steerage wheels for such craft are usually large, for example between 1 meter and 2.5 meters in diameter. This can give rise to problems in steering the vessel, if space is limited in the steering area, for example because of large numbers of personnel or large numbers of items on deck. Such steerage wheels comprise a peripheral rim member for manually gripping the wheel, connected by a number of radial spokes to a central hub member. It is known to provide a means of folding two opposite sectors of the wheel over onto the remainder of the wheel, so as to reduce the effective width of the wheel, in one direction. This arrangement is more fully described below with reference to the drawings, but essentially comprises pivot mechanisms located in the rim for permitting sector portions of the rim to be folded over. A problem arises in that one or more spokes are necessarily fixed to these sector portions to provide rigidity of the wheel in its open condition, but that this interferes with the folding operation. It has therefore been proposed to provide additional pivot mechanisms in such spokes.